Semitrailer king-pin locking and supporting means



y 7, 1960 J. MARKESTEIN ETAL 2,936,983

SEMITRAILER KING-PIN LOCKING AND SUPPORTING MEANS Filed Oct. 4, 1954 4Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS JMz/%zfm?zk.& 62? E y/M J4 la /z.

y 1960 J. MARKESTEIN ETAL 2,936,983

SEMITRAILER KING-PIN LOCKING AND SUPPORTING MEANS Filed Oct; 4, 1954 4Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTORS A OFINEY May 17, 1960 J. MARKESTEIN ETAL2,936,983

SEMITRAILER KING-PIN LOCKING AND SUPPORTING MEANS Filed Oct. 4, 1954 4Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS AT RNEY y 1960 J. MARKESTEIN ETAL 2,936,983

SEMITRAILER KING-PIN LOCKING AND SUPPORTING MEANS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FiledOct. 4, 1954 United States Patent 2,936,983 sEMiTRAiLER KiNG-Puv LOCKINGAND SUPPORTING MEANS john Marke'steimwestchester, and Matt john Weber,Jr.,

Chicago, 111., assignors to General Motors Corpora- 'tion, Detroit,Mich, a corporation of Delaware Application October 4, 1954, Serial No.460,182 2 Claims. (Cl. 4s' 119 Thisjinvent'ion relates generally toshock absorbing means "for use in. combinationwith railway vehicles andmore particularly to semitrailer king-pin receiving and .this highfailure of such king-pin receiving and supportingmeans appears to lie inthe fact that although longitudinal shock absorption has been providedin such means to prevent the transmittal of longitudinal shock betweenrailway vehicles and the semitrailers. carried thereon, no adequatemeans for absorbing vertical or lateral shockhas been provided.Moreover, it has been found that withthe king-pin supporting meanspresently .in use the-lateral or rolling or vertically applied shockforces to which such cars are subjected impose stresses and strains onthelking-pins ofthe semitrailers which may tear them loose from theirmountings or cause them to structurally fail-altogether. On the otherhand, it has been found that the present invention, by providing somelateral rolling or universal movement for the king-pin supporting meansso'that the king-pin may tip or be inclined'with respect to the railwayvehicle, has practicallyeliminated failures-of such means and theking-pins supported there- :by without any substantial increase in thesize or weight of the various components of the'supporting means. Themeans has been further improved by providing vertical cushioning of theking-pin relativeto the cars on which these gsemitrail'ers are carriedand frictionally damping all movements; of the king-pin relative to thecar.

It is therefore'propose'd as an object of this invention to provide asemitrailer king-pin receiving and supporting assembly adapted to bemounted on railway vehicles for transporting 'semitrailers whichn'otonly provides shock absorbing means tending to reduce the transmittal oflongitudinal shocks between such vehicles and semitrailers carriedthereon but also allows cushioned verticalmovement of the semitrailerking-pins relative to the vehicles as well as slight tipping, lateral:rollin'g, or :universal movement of these .king-pins relative to theserailway vehicles, wherein preferably all such movements are frictionallydamped.

.Fora fuller-understanding of'this and other related "objects ofthetpresent invention reference may be had to the accompanying detaileddescription and drawings, in which:

Fig. l-is a fragmentary view in perspective of one end of a-railwayvehicle-showing the new king-pin receiving and supporting means mountedthereon and a portion of one end of a semitrailer shown in dotted linesto indicate how-the king-pin thereof is supportedon the railway vehicle.

- Fig. 2 is an enlarged inverted view 'in perspective of the ,upperplate of the king-pin receiving and supporting 'ice means whichillustrates certain details of the jaws and jaw actuating and lockingassemblies for retaining the kingpin immovable relative to the plate.

Fig. 3 is a view in plan of the king-pin receiving means with portionsof the upper plate broken away to illustrate how the upper plate isresiliently supported by the foundation "of the king-pin supportingmeans and pivotally attached to a'second plate which is also pivotallyattached but indirectly to thefoundation.

Fig.4 is japtransveise sectional view in elevation taken on the linej4=4of Fig. 3 looking toward an end of 'a railway vehicle when the king-pinreceiving and supporting means is'mounted thereon and illustrates howthe lowerfplateis resiliently supported at its lateral edges on 5-- 5{orFig: 3 and illustrates the draft gear acting betweena yoke attached tothe lower pivoted plate and vertical abutting plates on the foundationof the semitrailer kinggpin supporting means to absorb longitudinalshockstending to be transmitted between the vehicle and thesemitrailers'transporte'd thereon.

Referring now to the accompanying figures and more particularly to Fig.1, a railway vehicle indicated generallyby the'numeral 2 is shownprovided with the usual supporting truck' assemblies 4 including wheeland axle sets '6. Disposed immediately above the truck "asseme blies 4are platforms 8 adapted to have secured thereto as by Welding, bolts orother suitable means the semitrailer-kingepin locking and securingmeans, forming the main subject matter of this invention and indicatedgenerally by a numeral 10.

To illustrate in part the operation of the device 10 a portion of amotor truck semitrailer has been shown in dotted lines and is indicatedby'a numeral 12. The semitrailer'IZ is provided with the usualsemitrailer king-pin 14 at the'forward end thereof'which is received andsupported'by the device-1t). The device 10 includes a foundation11;which comprises'a pair of flat plates or skids 16 which, as alreadymentioned, may be welded or otherwise suitably secured to the upper sideof platform 8. Welded or otherwise secured to the flat plates or skids.16 are upwardly converging legs 18 formed of longitudinally extending,essentially vertical flat plates 20 reinforced at opposite ends by meansof flange plates 22 welded orrotherwise suitably secured thereto. Thelegs 18 iaresecured'together at their upper ends by means of bolt andnut assemblies 24 extending through flanges 25 secured or formed onflange plates. 22. It will be observed from Fig. 4 that built in betweenthe legs 18 by means of plating 26, ,28, 30 is a draft gear pocket 32for thereception of a flexible draft gear, the general details of whichare best'shown in Fig. 5. The draft gear 34 includes a substantiallyU-shaped yoke 36 provided with a: pair of longitudinally spaced,upwardly extending bosses 3S and a window '40. Extending vthrough thewindow 46 so that it protrudes on either side thereof is a com-.pressible, resilient wafer assembly 42. This resilient assembly 42extends longitudinally when the king-pin supporting and receiving meansis. mounted on the car 2 and isprovided at either end with a chafingplate 44. The chafing plates 44 also extend laterally'through window 40so that they protrude on either side of theyoke 36. The plates 44, asobserved in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, are adapted to engage reinforced,longitudinally facing stationary. chafing plates 46 welded or otherwisesuitably secured to opposite ends of the foundation 11 of thesemitrailer king-pin locking and supporting means 10. The plates 26 and.30 are provided with lower and upper chafing plates 48 and 50,respectively, located in pocket 32, The plates '48 and 50 tend to limitthe vertical movement of the resilient wafer assembly 42 and the yoke 36relative to the foundation 11. Welded or otherwise suitably secured tothe upper portions of plates 20 are oppositely disposed spring pockets52. The spring pockets 52-are formed on the foundation 11 of thesemitrailer king-pin supporting and securing means 10. The pockets 52are each provided with a plurality of upwardly extending helical coilsprings 54 which resiliently support an elongated plunger 56 built so asto provide downwardly facing spring seats for the helical springs 54.The plungers 56 are made up of an elongated cylindrical portion cappedby a plate 58 which in turn has secured thereto an upwardly facingchafing plate 68. To prevent separation and loss of the plungers 56 frompockets 52 anti-separating rods 62 have been provided which are securedat one end of plate 58 and extend through springs 54 and holes 64 in thebottoms of pockets 52,

numeral 14. It will be observed that the vertical kingpin engagingsurfaces 132 and 134 of the movable jaw the. lower ends of the rods 62being provided with retaming washer and nut assemblies 66. Supported onthe chafing plates 60 for sliding movement with respect thereto is aplate 68 having downwardly facing chafing plates 70 which cooperate withand frictionally engage the upwardly facing chafing plates 60. Plate 68has longitudinally spaced along the center thereof and at either endupwardly facing pairs of bosses between which the bosses 38 of the yoke36 extend. The sets of bosses 72 are piv otally secured to an associatedboss 38 by means of pins 74 which allow the plate 68 to pivot or tipabout the axes of pins 74 extending longitudinally when the semitrailerkingpin locking and securing means 10 is mounted on the car 2. The pins74 are held in place so that flanges 76 thereof abut the outer of thebosses 72 by means of securing straps 78 bolted as by bolts 80 orotherwise suitably secured to an upwardly extending skirt 82 weldedaround the edge of plate 68. As best observed in Figs. 3 and 4, plate 68has welded thereto a pair of laterally, oppositely disposed bosses 84extending upwardly between sets of downwardly extending bosses 86secured to an upper plate 88. The plate 88 is pivotally supported onplate 68 'by fastening each set of bosses 86 and a boss 84 with pins 90.The pins 90 are retained in place in the holes of the bosses 86 and 84by means of small annular plates 92 which are secured by studs 94 to adownwardly depending skirt 96 attached around the outer edge of plate88. The plate 88 is an element of the king-pin receiving and lockingportion of the entire assembly 18. .lt will be observed from the figuresand especially Fig. 2 that plate 88 has secured to the under sidethereof a pair of vertical, longitudinally extending, parallel plates 98and 100 whose end-s are also secured to the inner surface of the skirt96. Secured to the lower edges of plates 98 and 100 by means of bolt andnut assemblies 162 and 104 are a pair of supporting plates 186 and 188.The plates 106 and 108 act as partial support for a stationary jaw 110which is secured to 'the under side of plate 88 by welding as at 112 andhas an upward projection 114 whose upper surface is flush with the uppersurface of plate 88. It will be observed that the projection 114 extendsupwardly into a hole or opening 116 in the center of plate 88 and isformed so that the vertical surface 118 thereof fairs smoothly with thevertical surface 120 defining the opening 116 in plate 88. The notch 122formed between the projection 114 and plate 88 enables the stationaryjaw 114 to be welded to plate 88 so that an extremely rigid and strongjoint is made between the stationary jaw 110 and plate 88.

Also supported on the vertical plates 106 and 108 for longitudinalsliding movement with respect thereto is a movable jaw 124. The jaw 124in its retracted position; that is, when it is farthest from thestationary jaw 110, has an upward projection 126 which smoothly abutsall portions the vertical surface defining the opposite end of theopening or hole 116. The movable jaw 124 is provided with a shoulder 128which is adapted to engage in an annular groove IMP-provided in theusual semitrniler king-pin such as the one exemplified in Fig. 4 which,as already mentioned, has been indicated by the 124 are cylindrical inform to conform to the cylindrical surfaces of the king-pin 14. In orderto move the jaw 124 along tracks or ways provided by vertical Plates 106and 108 the jaw is pivotally attached by pins 136 to sets of links 138which in turn are pivotally secured by means of pins 148 to hell cranks142. The cranks 142 include a shaft 144 which is journalled for rotationby means of bearing blocks 146 and 148 secured by studs 150 to plates 98and 100 in notches 152 and 154 cut therein. The shaft 144 is alsojournalled for rotation by means of a bearing block 156 forming anenlarged part of the skirt 96 at a corner thereof. Attached to an end ofshaft 144 extending through the bearing block 156 by means of anattaching block 158 is an operating handle 160.

A locking pin assembly to lock the movable jaw 124 in the position inwhich it is shown in Fig. 2 so that the king-pin is securely clampedbetween jaws 114 and 124 is indicated by a numeral 162. This assembly162 includes a locking pin 164 secured to a rod 166 which is guided bymeans of a block 168 having a hole therethrough and forming an enlargedportion of the aforementioned skirt 96. With the movable jaw 124 in theposition shown in Fig. 2 the pin 164 may be pushed through aligned holes170 provided in the vertical plates 98 and as well as a cooperating hole172 in jaw 124. In order to move the pin 164 in and out of the holes and172 in the manner described the end of rod 166 extending outside of theskirt 96 is bent so as to form an operating handle 174. Interposedbetween the handle 174 and the block 168 and immediately adjacentthereto when the pin 164 is in the position shown is a small lockingplate 176. This locking plate is formed in such a. way that the handle174 must be turned to remove a portion of the plate 176 extendingupwardly into a recess formed by the block 168 and a small band 178secured thereto. In other words, with the handle 174. hanging down underthe force of gravity as shown in Fig. 4 the rod 166 with the pin 164could not be withdrawn from the holes 176 and 172. It is first necessaryto, turnthe handle 174 at least through an angle of 90 before the pinmay be withdrawn.

To suitably reinforce the upper plate 88 at the point Where most of theweight of the front end of the semitrailer is resting thereon suitablereinforcing plates 180 have been provided to which are securedreinforcing, relatively large gusset plates 182.

The operation of this new semitrailer king-pin securing and lockingmeans is as follows: assuming a semitrailer such as 12 is maneuveredonto the car..2 and the kingpin 14 thereof is located in the opening 116with the jaw 124 in the retracted position as shown in Fig. 5, thehandle 160 may be turned so that the links 138 and the bell cranks 142tend to straighten out thereby causing the surfaces 132 and 134 ofmovable jaw 124 to engage king-pin 114 and move it toward the stationaryjaw 110 until it is clamped between jaws 118 and 124 as shown in Figs. 2and 4. Once the king-pin is properly clamped between jaws 118 and 124the pin 164 may be inserted through plates 98 and 100 as well as movablelaw 124 and locked in place, as already mentioned, by turning the handle174 so that it is more or less horizontal and so that the small lockingplate 176 may be moved under the band or strap 17 8 so that it willextend upwardly into the recess formed when the handle 174 is lowered asshown in Fig. 4. Once the semitrailer is clamped in place by means ofits king-pin on plate 88 it will be observed that the plate 88 may rockor tip about a transverse axis through the .pins 90. Slight lateraltipping of the plates 88 and 68 as a unit may also take place about alongitudinal axis through the pins 74. This lateral tipping will ofcourse be cushioned by the springs 54 and is made possible by theclearances indicated in bly and the king-pin 14 which is locked oranchored such a car and preventing their transferral to the semivtrailer carried thereon. This unique king-pinreceiving to plate 88 bythe means provided on the under side thereof. This slight play, asalreadydescribed, is cushioned and, as may be readily observed, isclamped by sliding movement between plates 70 and 60. This slighttipping and universal movement which is provided between the king-pinand the foundation relieves the tremendous forces which are otherwiseexerted on both the king-pin receiving and supporting assembly includingthetfoundation and also the king-pin which is attached to the undersideof the semitrailer when the semitrailer and the car are subjected toshocks which tend to cause rolling or vertical movementof the car. Inother words, this unique universal connection including its resilientsupports and the damping. means not only absorbs and tends to preventthe transferral to the semitrailer of sudden shocks which cause the carto roll, move vertically or longitudinally but' 1t alsorelievesth'e'tremendous stresses and strains which would otherwise beset up bysuchmotionL The draft gear has primarily been provided toprevent the transferral of longitudinal shock loads to which the car issubjected from being transmitted to the semitrailer carried thereon.This is accomplished by compressing the resilient wafers of the draftgear 42 between one end of the yoke 36 and a set of the vertical plates46 at the opposite end. Since under such conditions the plates 88 and 68and the yoke 36 will move as a unit longitudinally relative to thefoundation 11 including plates 30 the chafing plates 70- will also movelongitudinally With'respect to the plates 60 so'that the frictionexerted between theplates 70 and 60 will abet the resist-. ance offeredto relative longitudinal movement between foundation 11 and the plates88 and i63 by the resiliency of the draft gear 34.' Thefrictionalforcespresent between plates 60 and 70 in--addition to offering yieldingresistance to movement of the semitrailer relative to the railway carwill of course tend to damp any oscillatory movements which might be setup by draft gear 34 as well as any harmonic or oscillatory movementstending to be set up by springs 54. e

From the foregoing description it' may now, be appreciated that uniqueking-pin receiving and supporting means for freight cars particularlyadapted to transport motor truck semitrailers has been provided which bymeans of a novel universal joint enables the king-pin receiving andsupporting means to be made as light as possible while at the same timebetter cushioning and absorbing all types of shocks which might beapplied to and supporting means also tends to relieve certain stresseswhich have been previously applied to semitrailer king-' pins and theking-pin supporting means therefor so as to eliminate the failures insuch means frequently occurring by reason of such stresses.

We claim:

A 1. A semi-trailer kingpin receiving and supporting means for railwayvehicles adapted to transport semitrailers comprising, in combination, afoundation secured to the upper sides of such railway vehicles, auniversal joint including an upper member rotatable about avtransverseaxis and a lower member rotatable about an axis longitudinal of suchvehicles, said uppermember having kingpin receiving means operable tohold a semi-trailer kingpin when'inse'rted-ther'ein immovable thereto,intermediate means for connecting said lower member to said foundation,said intermediate" means including asubstantions, the upper ends of saidleg portions forming bosses tially U-shaped'yokememberlarranged in avertical plane lying :in' the direction of travel of such vehicle andresilient shoclcabsorbing means having fore and aft ends mounted on saidfoundation and, acting horizontally 'in the direction'of travel of suchvehicle, said U-shaped yoke member having spaced apart upstanding legpor- 1 pivoted to said lower member of the universal joint,

said pivotalconnection forming the longitudinal rotational axis of thelatter, thelower ends of said leg 'por-.

tions having opposed pressure faces embracing the fore and an ends ofthe shock absorbing means for preventing the transmittal of shocksbetween such railway vehicles and any semi-trailers transported thereonwith their kingpin secured in said kingpin receiving means, andvertically arranged spring means'on sald foundation providing resilientsupport of said lower member. on said foundation. 1 i

21 A semi-trailer kingpin' receiving andisupporting means according toclaim 1" including, first chafing plates connected to said lowermember-opposite said spring means and second. chafing plates carried bysaid spring means, said first and second chafing plates being infrictional contact with each other for damping vibrations.

a Andert i Junet7, 1955

